KT to Build Illegal Fishing Surveillance System in West Africa

KT has launched a project to establish a surveillance system to prevent illegal and unregulated fishing in West Africa.

The Korean mobile carrier announced on May 27 that it has started to build the "Unified West African IUU (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing) Surveillance System" in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

KT undertakes the project together with the East Sea Fishery Administration Group of the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

The project is to build a Korean-type fishery surveillance system that monitors and controls illegal fishing in fishing areas of Sierra Leone and Liberia. It is one of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) programs conducted by the East Sea Fishery Administration Group of the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. The project will cost a total of US$ 2.5 million. This marked the first time that Korea exported a fishery surveillance system to Africa.

KT plans to build a system that matches the environment in West Africa, such as periodically checking ship location information and alerting authorities when the system detects illegal fishing vessels. In the future, we plan to establish a system to detect and notify in real time if a safety accident such as a hijacking or stranding occurs beyond monitoring the operation.

In 2014, KT built the Deep-Sea Fishing Monitoring System in Korea with the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and KT SAT. "This project is Korea’s first project to export the Deep-Sea Fishing Monitoring System and will give the green light for carrying out more global projects in the future," said Yoon Kyung-rim, vice president of the Global Business Office at KT.